Late Hour Underground King

The theme is Karma. A groovy smallish place that offers great dance music. Buddha Lounge is probably the best venue for electronic & hardcore 'dance' music lovers. Cool crowd and mix bag. (the best dance place was Yumla before, and after they've launch their shady door policy, many regulars shifted to the Buddha.)

Buddha Lounge gets very busy during weekend, especially after 5am. The dancing crowd still bumping the floor at 7am. It's one of the main afterhours places in Hong Kong. The DJ spinning hardcore eletronica can set our world on fire. Check out the private back room.

Monday: Chill Out Night

Tuesday: Girls Night Out, Hip Hop and RnB 6pm to 10pm. Happy Hour 11pm to 1am Free House vodka mixer for ladies Rum mixer 2 for 1 all night.

Wednesday: Funky house / Soul 6pm to 10pm. Happy Hour Vodka mixers HK$25 all night.

Thursday: eggae, Ragga, Soca, Zouk, Hip Hop and Afro Beat. HK$30 Chang Beer all night. Live percussion and DJ Kila

Friday: House 6pm to 10pm. Happy Hour 12 shots for HK$300

Saturday: House 6pm to 10pm. Happy Hour 12 shots for HK$300

Buddha Lounge
Address: L/G Amber Lodge, Hollywood Road, Central, Hong Kong. [MAP]
Phone: +(852) 2526 2562
Opening Hours: 6pm to 2am daily. Closed on Sundays. Thursday, Friday and Saturday open till late.
Cover Charge: No cover.
Dress Code: Casual.
Happy Hour: 6pm to 10pm daily.
Drafts available: Heineken and Edelweiss.

How to get there: take MTR to Central Station, take exit D. Turn right on Queens Road Central, walk straight, then take the escalator to Hollywood Road. It's right under the bridge on the stairs.

club M1NT

Mixture of Paris and London spirit, M1NT is a glamorous nightclub with "beautiful" people, local models and wannabes. Plush bunket, chandeliers and semi-private dining rooms with live black tip reef sharks swimming in the fish 8-meter-long tanks, and a jelly fish tank. It's the venue of lucury brands including Versace, Lancôme, Chaumet, Calvin Klein, Harvey Nichols, Vertu, and Moët and Chandon to host fashion shows and product launches.

Entry has to be painfull if you don't dress well, or if you're not 'on the list'. Short dressed Asian girl in the group helps getting through the door. Friday night was pretty packed a young & upmarket crowd. Service is on the arrogant side.

M1NT
Address: 108 Hollywood Road, Central, Hong Kong. [MAP]
Phone: +(852) 2261 1106
Fax: +(852) 2980 3737

How to get there: take MTR to Central Station, take exit D. Turn right on Queens Road Central, walk straight, then take the escalator to Hollywood Road. Walk along Hollywood Road towards Sheung Wan direction for about 5 mins. It's on your left.

Crazy Hour HK$19/beer

Now, you can fin cheap beer in Tsimshatsui East, the luxury 5-star hotels area.

During 'crazy hour' 6-8pm at Sticky Fingers, selected draft beer is only HK$19/pint, with free flowing unlimited order. I always order my cold fresh Stella Artois after 6pm. :D

Sticky Fingers itself ia a rock n roll bar, which usually a Filipino band perform everynight after 10pm of cover music. It is also the venue for the "World Battle of Bands" semifinals in Hong Kong. There's a large open bar with a tiny dance floor in front of the stage. There's also some Filipino working woman picking up customers at the bar everynight.

Crazy Hour: 6-8pm Daily. HK$19/selected beer
Happy Hour: 8-10pm Daily. Buy one get one free
Live Music nightly after 10pm

Sticky Fingers
Address: Shop 61-63 & 67-70 Tsim Sha Tsui Centre, G/F 66 Mody Rd, Tsimshatsui East, Kowloon, Hong Kong. [MAP]
Phone: +(852) 2369 8988
How to get there: Tsimshatsui MTR Exit P, walk along Mody Road towards Shangri-la Hotel for about 3-5 mins. It's right opposit to The Royal Garden Hotel, near SaSa.

Little Cozy French Dance Place

Tucked away down a tiny side street, gecko is a great place for private parties (birthday party) and cozzy after-dinner watering hole. It's the in-the-know locals' favourite. Chill-out in cosy sofas on weekday evenings with piano music, jamming sessions, or live jazz. Weekends get raucous with DJs spinning electronic dance beats.

The owner, Chris, is French. So, there're lots of French people hang out here. The crowds are usually non pretensious. No dress code here. Services are friendly. Drinks are a bit pricey (HK$70 for a house pour) but the DJ know how to work the crowd, espcially after midnight.

Gecko Lounge and Wine Bar
Address: LG/F, Ezra Lane Lower Hollywood Road, Hong Kong. [MAP]
Phone: +(852) 2537 4680
Opening Hours: Sun-Thu 6pm-3am; Fri & Sat 6pm-later

How to get there: take MTR to Central Station, take exit D. Turn right on Queens Road Central, walk straight, then take the escalator to Hollywood Road. There're stairs right under the bridge. Walk down the stairs and turn right on the first alley on your right. Gecko is the first bar in the alley.

What the PHO?

Pho-natic (pronounce as fa-nat-ik), one who loves to eat Pho.

What is Pho?
Pho is a traditional Vietnamese thinly sliced meat and rice-noodle soup dish. It normally served as a bowl of white rice noodles in clear beef broth, with thin cuts of beef (steak, fatty flank, lean flank, brisket). Variations featuring tendon, tripe, meatballs, chicken leg, chicken breast, or other chicken organs (heart, liver, tongue, etc.) are also available. It is garnished with fresh herbs such as green onions, white onions, coriander leaves, Thai basil, lemon or lime wedges, and bean sprouts. The herbs are usually provided on a separate plate, which allows customers to adjust the soup's flavor as they like. Fish sauce and hot sauce are popular additions as well.

Promotion @ Cafe Annam (for dinner only):
SUNDAY: Order a PHO and get a bottle of FREE SAIGON BEER!
TUESDAY & WEDNESDAY: Order a 'Street-Style' combination appetizer and get a FREE BOWL OF PHO!

Cafe Annam
Address: 35 Elgin Street, Soho, Central, Hong Kong. [MAP]
Phone: +(852) 2545 9966

Best Wanton (Prawn Dumplings) Noodle

Among the thousands of local dishes that remain deeply rooted in Hongkongers' daily life, some make it to international fame, and others stick to lowkey popularity, eaten in local circles.

Wanton (Prawn Dumplings) Noodles, is one of the nation's flavorful plate. With a maximum capacity of 48 seatings, this small noodle outlet is probably the best wanton noodle in Hong Kong.

The prices are unbelievable cheap even with Michelin recommendation: HK$16 for a bowl of soup noodles! The menu only have 3 choices. You can only choose between 1) Prawn Wanton Noodles; 2) Fishball Noodles; or 3) Beef Noodles. The wantons and fishballs are huge. Wantons are filled with a few big fresh prawns, and enveloped in a thin, translucent dumpling skin. Fishballs are flavor with dried Mandarin peel. And the egg noodles are fresh and springy, cooked perfectly al dente with an alkaline aftertaste. A little bit of venigar can reduce the alkaline taste. The Beef are not particularly good in taste though.

Be prepared to share table with strangers. It is definately NOT a romantic dinner place, as everyone just sat, ordered, ate and left within a span of minutes.

Tsim Chai Kee
Address: 98 Wellington Street, Central, Hong Kong. [MAP]
Phone: +(852) 2850 6471
Opening Hours: 09:00-22:00

Directions: Central MTR station, exit B1, turn right. Turn right again on Queen's Road Central. Turn left on Cochrane Street, walk uphill. It's near the mid-level escalators. About 5 mins walk from Central MTR station.

Macau Almond Cookie

This is a famous and traditional cookie from Macau where every tourist bring some home after their visit. Among all almond cookies bakeries, Koi Kei Bakery and Choi Heong Yuen are the two most famous ones. Choi Heong Yuen was set up in 1935 and has been popular for over 70 years.

The cookies are made with flour, sugar, and almonds. For original flavor, a small piece of lard is added in the middle of the cookie. While for health reasons, other flavor such as pork floss, seeds, nuts, etc. are added instead of lard.

You can also buy the almond cookies in Hong Kong if you don't have time to visit Macau.

Choi Heong Yuen
Address: 668 & 718 King's Road, Hong Kong. [MAP]
Phone: +(852) 2561 0781 / 2560 5810
Fax: +(852) 2328 6979
Email: sales@chuiheungyuen.com

Price: HK$42/box

Directions: Quarry Bay MTR Station Exit C, walk straight, turn left on King's Road. 3 mins walk from MTR station.

Salon de Ning

Sophisticatedly ostentatious bar lounge on the Kowloon-side.

The décor: The interior design is inspired by the opulent private residences of 1930s Shanghai celebutante “Madame Ning.” There are four themed rooms: the L’Afrique, tent-like with back-lit lattice windows and a U-shaped Moroccan alcove; the Ski Room, a rustic Swiss Chalet complete with cozy fireplace; the Boudoir, the Madame’s own dressing room, with vintage hats on the ceiling. Stepping into them is like stepping into an old Shanghai movie scene.

The drinks: Signature drink "Ning Sling", a combination of Absolut Mandarin, lychee liqueur and passion fruit purée garnished with mint and lychee. Champagne-lovers, the bar carries an exclusive label created by Deutz of France.

The crowd: The stylish crowd who bothered to dress up. No T-shirts, shorts or flip-flops.

The music: Live band playing disco, 70s, 80s and 90s from 9pm till late on the weekdays. DJ on the weekend playing more tasteful tunes, such as jazz classics, bossa beats and ambient.

Salon de Ning
Address: B/F, The Peninsula, Salisbury Rd., Tsimshatsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong. [MAP]
Phone: +(852) 2315 3355

New Urban Taxi Fare (since 30 Nov 2008)

New taxi fare scheme applied to all Urban Taxi (red color) started 30 Nov 2008. In addition to an increase in base fares, there is an incremental increase from HK$1.40 to HK$1.50 up to nine kilometers. After that the increment drops to HK$1, meaning a trip that used to cost HK$100 will now cost HK$95.50 and a ride that cost HK$300 will now be 20 percent cheaper.

First 2 kilometres or any part thereof HK$18

Every subsequent 200 metres or part thereof / Every period of 1 minute waiting time or part thereof

• For meter fare below $70.5 HK$ 1.50
• For meter fare of $70.5 and above HK$ 1

Since most taxi have not changed their fare meter, so, please make sure they charge you a correct fare according to the fare table (paper form convertion table).

For more details, click here.

Michelin guide Hong Kong Macau 2009

"Michelin Guide Hong Kong Macau 2009" is the first bilingual Michelin guide. Hong Kong has become one of the first Michelin cities in China. It includes 202 establishments in Hong Kong, with 22 of them receiving one or more Michelin stars.

There were 12 Michelin inspectors (2 of them were Chinese) who examined a pre-selected 1,200 of the 15,000 restaurants. 200 restaurants were chosen to appear in the guide. Among the 200 restaurants, 33 of them belongs to hotels' restaurant.

3 STARS *** (the top Michelin grade for "exceptional cuisine worth a special journey.")

• Lung King Heen 龍景軒 (Four Seasons Hotel)
  

2 STARS ** (excellent cooking worth a detour)

• Amber (Mandarin Oriental Hotel)
  
• Bo Innovation
• Caprice (Four Seasons Hotel)
• L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon
• Shang Palace 香宮 (Kowloon Shangri-la Hotel)
  
• Summer Palace夏宮 (Kowloon Shangri-la Hotel)
  
• T'ang Court唐閣 (Langham Hotel)
  

1 STAR * (a very good restaurant in its category)

• Fook Lam Moon (Wanchai) 福臨門（灣仔）
• Forum 富臨
• Hutong 胡同
• Lei Garden (IFC) 利苑酒家（國際金融中心）
• Lei Garden (Tsim Sha Tsui) 利苑酒家（尖沙咀）
• Ming Court 明閣 (Langham Place)
  
• Petrus (Island Shari-La Hotel)
  
• Pierre (Mandarin Oriental Hotel)
  
• Regal Palace 富豪金殿 (Regal Hongkong Hotel)
  
• Shanghai Garden 紫玉蘭
• The Golden Leaf 金葉庭
• The Square 翠玉軒
• Tim's Kitchen 桃花源小廚
• Yung Kee 鏞記

Special Recommendation (no star but recommended)

• Café Siam
• Cheung Kee 祥記飯店
• Crystal Jade (Tsimshatsui) 翡翠拉麵小籠包（尖沙咀）
• Farm House 農圃飯店
• Golden Bauhinia 金紫荊
• Gunga Din's 金家美食
• Ho Hung Kee 何洪記
• Jashan
• Kin's Kitchen 留家廚房
• Lei Garden (Elements) 利苑酒家（圓方）
• Lei Garden (Mong Kok) 利苑酒家（旺角）
• Le Soleil (The Royal Garden Hong Kong)
• Lian 蓮
• Luk Yu Tea House 陸羽茶室
• Naozen なお膳
• 1/5 Nuevo
• Tandoor
• Tasty (Happy Valley) 正斗粥麵專家（跑馬地）
• Tasty (Hung Hom) 正斗粥麵專家（九龍）
• Tasty (IFC) 正斗粥麵專家（國際金融中心）
• West Villa 西苑酒家
• Yee Tung Heen 怡東軒 (Excelsior Hotel)
• Yè Shanghai (Admiralty) 夜上海（金鐘）
• Yunyan 雲陽閣

Many local gastronomes & gourmets doubt the Michelin judges ratings were fair. For example Yung Kee 鏞記 serves the best roasted goose in the world (Hong Kong has the best roasted goose in the world, while Yung Kee 鏞記 offers the best roasted goose in town.), should deserve at least 2 stars instead of 1 star.

What did the local gourmets say about "Michelin guide Hong Kong Macau 2009"?

李純恩: I will not follow this guide to eat. Western people do not understand the pith of Chinese cooking and food culture. They only appreciate restaurants in luxury hotels. Hongkongers no need to boarder.

劉健威: Michelin judges' standards are typical tourists' standards, which are very different from the locals. With a limited time tasting pre-selected restaurants from luxury locations. You are very safe at 5-star hotels, you don't normally find bad food there, however, also hard to get surprise. They should spend more time investigating and understanding Chinese food culture.

Chow Chung: Chinese have their own standard of good food. As you don't trust Chinese people's rating s and comments on Western food. This guide used a Western perspective to rate the restaurants, I doubt any local will follow their culinary map.

Innovative Wine Tasting Bar

Wine tastings became fun with gimmicky Enomatic Wine Serving System. Enomatic is a state-of-the-art computer controlled wine serving system that monitors the operation of each bottle and allows the poured wine to be set to any quantity. The unit features individual bottle positions that can adapt to different sized bottles, electronic push-button operation, and back-lit display. The anti-oxidation feature is automatically activated whenever a new bottle is added in the system. The computer also tells the restaurant how long a bottle has been in the Enomatic.

I visited the Tasting Wine Bar in Hong Kong on Friday night. You can taste a wide selection of wines with a variety of prices, that wouldn’t usually be offered by the glass. The bar offers 40 varieties of wines (32 Reds, 7 Whites, 1 Rose), from Old to New World wines. Many of them are unable to sample in normal restaurants / bars without purchasing the whole bottle. Instead of spending more than $500 for a bottle of wine, I can taste half portion of the same wine for $89. They even have wine from Lebanon. They also offer tapas & cheeses (free one serving during happy hours), which are excellent companion to wines. I poured my own glass of wine without touching a bottle!

How does the Digital Wine Cellar works?

1. First, you walk over to a big glass-fronted box with wine bottles in it.
2. Insert a prepaid debit card
3. Hold your wineglass under a spout
4. Press a button
5. and -- Huhuu -- dispenser pour your Shiraz.

You have 3 choices to choose from the system:-
(1) By the glass (150ml)
(2) Half glass (75ml), or
(3) Tasting portion (25ml)

Each bottle is marked with the price per different serving size. The prices changes on a digital display. Cost wise, for tastings portion (i.e. 25ml), price ranging from HK$14 to HK$170 at the top end (Vintage 1997) .

The downsides of this bar was that the lights were too bright, and the low ceilings made the room very noisy and when crowded with people. Service could be improved though.

Where can I find this wine machine in Hong Kong?

Sky Lounge at Sheraton Hotel
Address : 20 Nathan Road, Tsimshatsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong. [MAP]
Tel : +(852) 2369 1111
Opening Hour : Mon-Thur 16:00-01:00; Fri 16:00-02:00; Sat 14:00-2:00; Sun 14:00-01:00

Tastings Wine Bar
Address : 27-29 L/G Wellington Street, Central, Hong Kong. [MAP]
Tel : +(852) 2523 6282
Opening Hour : Mon-Sat 17:00-02:00 (Sun Closed)

Chinese Junk Boat Cocktail Tour

How about sailing in Hong Kong's beautiful harbour, in an traditional Chinese junk boat, with a stylish cocktail on your hand?

There's a private run junk boat called Aqua Luna (or “Cheung Po Tsai” in Cantonese), run by Aqua Restaurant Group, which owns some of Hong Kong’s most cutting edge luxury restaurants in HK, including Aqua, Ayuthaiya, WasabiSabi, etc.

Aqua Luna is probably the last traditional Chinese Junk boat to be designed and handmade in Hong Kong. This 28-metre junk was built in by a 80 year old master craftsman, supervised by an equally experienced 73 year old ship-building veteran, over a period of 18 months, using traditional Chinese boat building methods which have now all but died out in Hong Kong.

Price per person: HK$150 (day)/ HK$180 (evening) - 45 mins including cocktail /drink

Reservations:
Phone: +(852) 21168821
Website: www.aqua.com.hk
Email: info@aqua.com.hk

Cow Farm with Fresh Organic Milk

The only liscensed organic dairy farm in Hong Kong. The cows were feed with 100% organic grasses. This dairy farm have been in operations for 40 years. The farm is small, however, you can see the whole milk production process here, from gplantation, cows breeding, milk production, and packaging. Beacuse there's limited production of the milk, they are not available for sale in supermarkets. You can also sample the milk in the farm though. You can be sured that you won't drink milk with Melamine here.

Hong Ning Dairy (牛牛樂園)
Address: DD 81, Man Uk Bin, Sha Tau Kok, Fanling, New Territories, Hong Kong.
Phone: +(852) 2674 0282
Fax: +(852) 2674 1571
Entrance Fee: HK$18/person (including free milk sample)
Feeding: you can buy some grass for HK$5 to feed the cows
Opening Hour: 10:00-16:00 Daily
Remarks: avoid Sunday if you can, as it's over crowded with local group tourists.